The 2011 Virtual Race is on again in earnest - fighting against men’s cancers with the sixth annual Heaven Can Wait 24 hour charity yacht race and the One Lap Dash. A serious battle at the front of the fleet in the 2011 Heaven Can Wait virtual race, with Granny Jen still in the lead but the bunch is closer behind and closing - the combined pool is rapidly heading towards $19k. At this rate last years Race record of $40k is under threat

A large fleet of yachts will once again be racing around Lake Macquarie over 24 hours of the October long weekend (October 1-2) for the sixth annual Heaven Can Wait 24 Hour Yacht Race – and in the process raising funds for men’s cancer research and support programs.

The Heaven Can Wait (HCW) 24 Hour Yacht Race and the associated One Lap Dash will be held on Lake Macquarie, near Newcastle, on the NSW Labour Day long weekend. (that is just four days away) Both races for this year’s event will start at 1100 hours on Saturday October 1st, 2011, and will take participants on a circuit around Lake Macquarie.

The event raised money for the NSW Cancer Council and Marine Rescue Lake Macquarie; last year, with an amazing mixture of boats on the startline, it raised more that $40,000.

As with the 2010 event, entry fees have been kept to just $50 for the 24 Hour Race and $30 for the One Lap Dash, and $70 for participants in both

The entire entry process – which is via the Heaven Can Wait website at www.heavencanwait.com.au – is done online, and includes the automated set up of an EveryDayHero donations page for each yacht which enters.

Crew, family, friends, work colleagues and other supporters can then donate money to individual boats – with a 'virtual' race also held for the boat team that raises the most money.

The HCW charity race concept was conceived and organised by Lake Macquarie sailor and cancer survivor Shaun Lewicki to raise funds for cancer research, awareness and support programs, with a particular emphasis on men’s cancer.

This morning Shaun commented. 'We are off to a great start again in 2011. Last year we received in total almost 1600 contributions in reaching our target. We are hoping for a similar result this year and the exciting thing is that a lot of the boats have just hit the water, so they will be palying catch up over thenext few days and weeks.'